Roof ventilator



y 8,1951 E. w. PETERSEN ET AL 2,551,965

v ROOF VENTILATOR Filed Jan. 5, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 35 w t FIG. I

a l u 25 INVENTORSI '1, 1 E, w. PETERSEN B R. F. SANSONETTI Y l9 1 {\lo a; z 6 i; 2

ATTORNEYS.

M y 1951 E. w. PEq'ERsEN ETAL 2,551,965

ROOF VENTILATOR Filed n 5, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Humil- FIG. 8

INVENTORS. E. W. PETERSEN BY R. F. SANSENETTI' ATTORNEYS.

Patented May '8, 1951 assess ROOF VENTILATOR Elmer W. Petersen and Raymond F. Sansonetti, Chicago, Ill.

Application January 5, 1946, Serial No. 639,316

7 Claims. 1

Our invention relates to ventilators for attic and other compartments in buildings havin pitched roofs, it being the custom to make an opening in the roof and apply means thereover to permit ventilation while keeping out rain and wind.

The invention consists in a chamber applicable as stated and having for its object to serve the purpose efficiently.

A further object of the invention is to provide means in the chamber automatically responsive to changes in climatic temperature, in order that the roof may be protected against cold weather without the necessity of manual attention or adjustment.

A further object of the invention is to so design the novel chamber that its temperature control also operates in conjunction with the chamber to close the ventilator during a storm or blizzard.

An important object of the invention is to construct the same along lines of simplicity and of few parts, in order that the ventilator may be economically produced and sold at a reasonable figure.

With the above objects in view and any others which may suggest themselves from the description to follow, a better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view, showing the ventilator on areduced scale mounted on a pitched roof, the tar paper or other covering thereof not being shown;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the ventilator;

Fig. 3 is a front end view;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view;

Fig. 5 is an enlargement of the frontal portion of the ventilator, showing a section of its chamber and interior as taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a partial section of the ventilator taken on the line 6'& of Fig. 4, and drawn on an enlarged scale showing the ventilator fully open;

Fig. '7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, showing the ventilator closed; and

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line s a of I Fig. 6, the medial portion of the showing being broken away and the side portions gathered.

Referring specifically to the drawings, [0 denotes a sheet metal front base frame forming the front bottom portion of the ventilator and adapted to be laid on a roof H as indicated in Fig. 1, while 12 is a sheet metal rear base frame portion of the ventilator and having its forward portion lying in overlapping engagement with the rear portion of the front base frame l0 secured thereto by welding or the like. It is understood that the base frames Ii] and [2 will be overlaid with the tar paper or other roof covering on all sides.

Upon the rear portion of the frame ill are soldered the frontal portions of the outward base flanges l2 of the ventilator side walls l3, these being high in the frontal region and tapering to points at the rear. The top I4 of the ventilator is trained to follow the upper edges of the side walls [3, and these Walls l3 have top marginal flanges l5 overlapping and soldered to the top l4. A chamber I6 is thus formed which is closed at the sides and rear and open in front.

Figs. 3 and 6 show that the frontal opening of the ventilator is occupied by a fly screen H, the same being carried by a sheet metal frame I 8. A retainer for the upper end of this frame is formed by bending the top l4 out with a deflected flange I9 having a return bend 20 as a reinforcement and stop for the frame l8; and Figs. 6 and '8 show that the portion 2! of the base frame In which is inside the ventilator is formed with a return fold 22; Beyond the latter the base portion 2| carries forwardly extending individual side strips 23' having external upward flanges 24 immediately in front of the lower portion of the screen frame l8, such flanges forming retainers for the lower portion thereof. The side strips 23 are secured to the base in by welding or the like. It may also be pointed out at this time that the base frame I0 and the side flanges I2 are formed with inclined upward side folds 25 and 25a, respectively, as more clearly shown in Fig. 3, these forming gutters to check the seepage of rain water under the tar paper covering 26. This eliminates the sealing of the base frame with a roofing cement.

While the ventilator, considered as an enclosure, may be suitable to a large extent toward shielding the roof opening from the entrance of rain or wind, it is still possible that such elements may enter by way of the screen H. We have therefore provided a control in the side of the frontal portion of the ventilator designed to close the ventilator when the weather becomes cold and at the same time check the entrance of rain, snow or wind by way of its frontal opening. Accordingly, Figs. 5 and 6 show that the control is generally in the form of a horizontally positioned cylinder 30, the same having ends 3 l. The latter have cut out portions 32 and 33 on oppo- The cylinder 39 is made of sheet metal, and 3.;

most of the material in the top of the opening 33 is bent forward with a double flange 36. Thus, when the cylinder rotates from the open position of Fig. 6 to the closed one of Fig. '7,

the flange 36 meets at inclined return flange 3's made from the section 22 of the base frame it, as shown in Fig. 7, so that the rotation of the cylinder is stopped. On the return travel, the left-hand wall of the cylinder-as seen in Fig. '7 meets the same inclined flange 31, as indicated in Fig. 6, to stop the rotation of the cylinder.

The ends 3! of the cylinder 3i! are spaced from the side walls l3 of the chamber it, as clearly indicated in Fig. 5, and frontal shields are provided for the spaces to check the passage of rain or Wind through the same. Thus, the cylinder flange 36 is cut short of the cylinder ends, and the end portions 36a of the flanges are bent back into the cylinder, leaving the adjacent peripheral portions thereof clear. The shields referred to are arcuate strips 38 soldered with their outer edges to the side walls 53 of the housing, the strips following the curvature of the cylinder freely and overlapping the said peripheral portions as shown in Fig. 5.

The rotation of the cylinder 30 may only be partial most of the time, and in such event a passage may exist through the same for rain or wind. To counteract this tendency, the cylinder wall 39 is made fiat adjacent to the lower end of the opening 33, as indicated at 39, so that when the cylinder rotates in the clockwise directionas seen in Fig. 6the front edge of the portlon W111 slope to form hams against the frame and cooperating with either one of the entrance of rain or wind into the rear portion of the ventilator. Also, the portion 39 forms a drain for the rain striking the same to fall into the gutter formed by the base frame portion 22 and the flan e31. The en o g Us L m S gutter ale formet forming a channel between said side walls.

by the side walls E3 of the chamber l6, and such ends are made with perforations it for the discharge of water accumulated in the gutter.

Since storms or blizzards are generally attended by a fall of temperature, this factor is employed to constitute the cylinder 39 and autcmatic control for regulating the ventilator. Thus, a bi-metal coil 4| is disposed between one of the cylinder ends 32 and adjacent wall i3, the inner end of the coil being driven through the shaft 34, and its outer end being carried by a hook 32. This hook is formed with a screw shank &3 which passes freely through a hearing it carried by the wall [3 and nuts 35 are mounted on the screw on both sides of the bearing. With the coil 5! mounted as just described, its thermostatic prop erty may be such as to rotate the cylinder 38 toward its baiiling position during a predetermined fall of temperature. Further, if the tim ing or latitude of the control requires changing to suit a different climate, it is an easy matter to loosen the nuts 45 and adjust the shank 43 of the hook 42 to tension or relax the coil M.

It will be evident from the above description that we have provided a ventilator which auto- 4 matically controls its inlet against the entrance of rain, snow or wind when these weather characteristics are accompanied by a fall of temperature. In such event, the cylinder 30 automatically turns to reduce the amount of cold air entering the building by way of the ventilator and also form a baffle against the entrance of Wind. Further, the Ventilator is constituted to check the entrance of rain or excessive wind where the cylinder is partially open or closed. Further, the control has its own rain deflector and gutter to clear the ventilator of water accumulated during a rain storm. Further, the thermostatic control is concealed in the housing and protected from rain and dust. Further, the ventilator housing has simple retaining means for its screen frame, so as to eliminate the need of solder to secure the same. Further, the base frame of the ventilator is flanged at the sides to check the seepage of rain water under the roofing material of the building. Finally, the ventilator is made up of few parts and is adjustable to suit different climatic conditions.

While we have described the invention along specific lines, various minor changes or refinements may be made therein without departing from its principle, and we desire to consider such changes and refinements as coming within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

W e claim:

1. A ventilator for an opening in a pitched roof comprising front and rear base frames, the rear frame being perforated to clear the opening, a housing rising incliinedly over the latter from the rear base frame and having an entrance opening in its lower end, a hollow cylinder journalled endwise between the side walls of the housing, said cylinder having oppositely disposed cutout portions along its wall and defining front and rear wall sections, one edge of each of the wall sections bent outwardly to form a flange, and a projection between the vertical plane of the axis of the cylinder and the plane of the entrance opening and extending from said base wall section flanges to permit only the partial rotation of the cylinder in either direction.

2. The structure of claim 1, said projection being a back bend of the front base frame and 3. The structure of claim 1, said projection being a back bend of the front base frame and forming a channel between said side walls, and the latter being perforated opposite the end of the channel.

4. The structure of claim 1, said projection being a back bend of the front base frame and forming a channel between said side walls, the rear cylinder wall section having a flattened portion lengthwise of one of its edges to discharge into said channel rain water entering the cylinder from said entrance opening.

5. The structure of claim 1, the ends of the cylinder being spaced from the side walls of the housing, and shields between the cylinder and said side walls at each end of said entrance opening.

6. The structure of claim 1, the ends of the cylinder being spaced from the side walls of the housing, and shields between the cylinder and said side walls at each end of said entrance opening, such shields being arcuate strips secured with their outer edges to said side walls and curved to follow the curvature of the cylinder periphery and freely overlap the end portions thereof.

7. A ventilator for an opening in a pitched roof including front and rear base frames, the rear frame being perforated to clear the opening, a housing rising inclinedly over the latter from the rear base frame and having an entrance opening in its lower end, and a cylinder mounted in the housing and having oppositely disposed cutout portions and front and rear wall sections, said cylinder controlling the amount of atmospheric communication between said openings, a framed screen filling said entrance opening, and means extended from the housing and front base frame to retain the framed screen, such means comprising a deflected flange projecting outwardly from the housing material over the entrance opening, strips extending forwardly from the inner portion of the front base frame and extending beyond the side portions of the entrance opening, and upward external flanges extending from the strips and overlying the side portions of the framed screen.

ELMER. W. PETERSEN. RAYMOND F. SANSONETTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,264,056 Geibig Apr. 23, 1918 1,831,498 Kraft Nov. 10, 1931 1,980,039 Crowell Nov. 6, 1934 2,216,873 Browne Oct. 8, 1940 2,300,842 Leslie Nov. 3, 1942 2,363,879 Leslie Nov. 28, 1944 2,364,144 Hunsaker Dec. 5, 1944 2,382,076 Leslie Aug. 14, 1945 

